Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Climate Change at Northern Jordanian Badia

Scientific evidence continues to mount that the earth’s climate is changing rapidly. Global average surface temperatures have increased by about 0.7 degree Celsius since the beginning of the 20th century, and nine of the ten warmest years on record have occurred during the 21st century. Climate change is among the biggest threats that face humanity. As temperature and precipitation patterns change, the delicate balance of climate, weather events and life is disrupted. The present paper aims at investigating the impact of climate change on air temperature and annual precipitation in the Jordanian Badia, which has fragile environmental ecosystems. Meteorological data for six meteorological stations in the Badia (Mafraq, Safawi, Rwaished, Azraq, Um El-Jumal, and Ramtha) in addition to Dara’a at south Syria, and Turaif and Guriat at North Saudi-Arabia obtained from the Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation and the USA national oceanic and atmospheric administration (NOAA) are used to identify the changes in air temperature and precipitation. The statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) is utilized to retrieve a regression trend between atmospheric carbon dioxide and ambient air temperature and to project future air temperatures at the nine stations considered in this study. Findings indicate that air temperature is increasing at an annual rate of 0.02-0.06 °C/year and annual precipitation is decreasing at an annual rate 2.6-0.5 mm/year.